Black maternal mortality debate to be held in parliament today Parliament has a duty to hold the NHS to account, say FiveXMore campaigners
TODAY, PARLIAMENT will hold a debate on black maternal mortality at 6.15pm following efforts from campaign group FiveXMore and others.
The group cites research which found that black women are four times more likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth and after childbirth.
The grassroots campaign group, set up by Clotilde Rebecca Abe and Tinuke Awe received over 187,000 signatures on their petition calling for “urgent action” to address the problem.
“Parliament has a duty to hold the NHS to account, to set clear targets and an action plan to address this racial disparity that has not changed for decades,” the group said.
The campaigners gave evidence to the Petitions Committee and Women and Equalities Committee as part of a joint inquiry, prompted in part by their petition. The Committees put the campaigners’ evidence to Minister of State for Education Nick Gibb MP in a later session, and the Committee’s work on this issue will continue with sessions with primary and secondary students in the Spring. The Petitions Committee will schedule a debate on these petitions once this work has been completed.
Nell and Esmie also set up the Impact of Omission initiative to campaign on this issue. Their website contains information about campaigning, links to teaching resources, and they have carried out a survey to hear about other students’ experiences, which has received more than 56,000 responses. They have used the results of their survey to raise awareness of the issue and their campaign.